Passing Comments
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DURING the first nine months of the present year Soviet Russia has built 53,650 miles of new roads of what are termed regional importance ; of these, 4,820 miles are surfaced. The original plan for the whole year was exceeded by 31.6 per cent. during the shorter period. Roadmaking in Russia is becoming. thoroughly mechanized, and scattered around the country are 34 road-machinery stations equipped with the most modern appliances.
Russia Builds Main and Other Roads on a Large Scale . .
Talk About Trifles PT. WO suggestions made in While Urgencies are 1 Parliament during the past Neglected . . . . few days were that all roads
should have white lines along the middle, and all built-up areas ihould be marked on every lamp-post. The first is to facilitate fog driving, and is a good one, except for the fact that a driver concentrating upon the central line might fail to notice an obstruction on his near side. The other is to remove a minor difficulty in administering the law, and received the reply that all lampposts in derestricted roads carry signs, therefore no further marking is necessary. We seem to recall having heard this question and answer on at least one previous occasion. Whilst fuss is made about futilities, matters of moment are overlooked. There are countless places where fatal accidents repeatedly occur and nothing is done, and there are grave inconsistencies in awarding sentences that is surely proof of definite injustice.
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ONE of the most obtrusive features of trolleybuses has, in the past, been the hiss of the trolley wheels on the overhead wires. London Transport, as previously mentioned in this journal, adopted a slipper in place of a wheel to overcome this difficulty. Originally, this slipper was of cast-iron and, if undue wear was to be avoided, regular lubrication of the wires was essential. Now the Board is experimenting with carbon inserts for the slippers. The need for lubrication is reduced, the noise is very much less and sparking is negligible. The carbons last about eight days and they are quickly replaceable at small cost.
Carbon inserts on Trolleybus Slippers Increase Efficiency . .
Minister of Transport THE Lancashire cotton in Discou rages Use of, dustry is disappointed to Cotton on Roads . . learn that the Minister of Transport considers that experiments, in this country and abroad, do not justify him in specifying cotton cloth for use in the construction and surfacing of roads. It appears that in America encouraging results have been obtained by the use of cotton fabric as a reinforcement membrane in road surfacing. Moreover, cotton mats have been found to be of value for "curing" concrete laid as road surfaces. No fewer than 80,000 such mats have been made available for experiments in all States of the Union, and the American Secretary for Agriculture has allocated some £260,000 for experiments with cotton fabric in road construction. It is a little surprising, therefore, to find that Mr. Hore-Belisha is not disposed to encourage these methods in Britain.
Commerdal Vehicles A CURIOUS decree has been Looking Blue in tlk published in the Greek
Greece Official Gazette. It is to the effect that all commercial vehicles must in future be painted blue, the name of the concern lasing the vehicle must, if required on the lorry, be shown in white lettering. There is a suggestion that the law has been introduced so that, in case of mobilization, transport vehicles would he of uniform appearance.
Issue of Warnings THELicensing Committee of
as to Licence Warwickshire recently made Renewal representations to the Ministry of Transport as to the desirability of announcements being made in the radio programmes of the B.B.C. when quarterly licences for motor vehicles are due. The B.B.C. could not commit itself to publish such an announcement on every occasion, so• the Ministry has agreed to issue a Press notice each quarter and to ask for it to he broadcast when possible. Tests show that reminders prove very effective, obviate breaks in the periods of validity and reduce the number of days lost.
Wily Delivery of A YORKSHIRE reader tells
Goods is Sometimes 'US of what he describes as Delayed a new game invented by the
police in his area. A driver is signalled to stop, and is asked by the policeman it he can see the whole side of his lorry through his mirror. If the reply be in the affirmative, the officer goes to the back of the vehicle and asks if he can be seen. Following this, he may ask if the driver can see a horse and cart, and, in the next breath, remark that it is too late as the cart has turned up a side street. Becoming bored with this game, he examines the records, asking when driving was commenced, and tactfully informs the man concerned that he will soon have to rest.